Your fingers smell amazing, Sabayon?
Yes, those words are ridiculous but so is Sabayon. This luscious dessert is ridiculously simple to make. In fact, I’m willing to bet my entire mitten and glove collection (before a polar vortex mind you!) that you already have the ingredients to make this in house. Have a Valentine? This is the perfect dessert to serve! Don’t have a Valentine? This is the perfect dessert to eat while you sit alone and cry, but then stop crying because you can make Sabayon and anyone would be lucky to have you!
Now get out that whisk and start fluffifying!
Three ingredients. Yup, three.
Ready?
Ingredients:
- 4 egg yolks
- 4 Tablespoons of sugar
- 4 Tablespoons of Champagne or Muscato or Lemonade or White Grape Juice or Marsala or Guiness or Coffee…. You can use pretty much any tasty drink! Out of drinks or hosting a toddler Valentine’s party? Use water!
Directions:
- Set yourself up a double boiler by placing a bowl (larger than the top of your pot) on top of a pot of simmering water. Simmering is when it’s moving around with occasional bubbles.
- Whisk together your yolks and sugar. The french term for this is blanchir — you’re distributing the sugar and lightening the mixture a bit by incorporating air. Try to work some French into your conversations to impress your Valentine.
- Slowly stream in your liquid. Continue to whisk. And whisk and whisk. We’re not trying to get a ton of volume here so don’t go bonkers and tear a rotator cuff but you do need to continually move around the custard so that it doesn’t curdle on the bottom of your bowl. Eggs coagulate around 150 degrees (fahrenheit) so if the liquid starts to bubble furiously, turn that puppy down. I like to think of my flame like a stick shift, down shift if it’s going too fast. I also like to make car engine noises when I do this. Maybe skip that part in front of your potential Valentine… Unless it’s me, I’d totally dig that.
- All right, so you’ve whisked for about 10 minutes, the mixture has lightened and is falling on itself like a luxurious sexy ribbon and there are no puddles of liquid hiding in the bottom of your bowl. You did it! You can now save any dinner party from disaster. Expect your social calendar to fill up to an annoying degree. Pour the sabayon into a martini glass and top with some crumbled up cookies or sliced berries. I am not overstating that this recipe has no right to be this amazing with so little effort and such simple ingredients. Make this. Want to make it ahead of time? Fold in 2 cups of whipped cream and chill. Want extra credit? Make some meringue cookies with the egg whites and float them in a bowl of the warm sabayon. BOOM! Floating Islands. I’ve never loved you more.
Happy Valentine’s!
